Rambo: First Blood Part 2
A film so expressly in touch with 80s conservatism that seemingly Ronald Reagan himself could have written the screenplay, this second entry in the Rambo saga, while not quite as fun to watch as the superior Rocky 4 (which came out around the same time), is still a good hearty slice of vintage 80s cheese. Stallone does well again in the movie that TRULY made Rambo an American icon, compared to the first film which was more about the larger issue of respect for our veterans. Sent back to Nam to supposedly do recon and just to take photographs of American POWs, Rambo takes matters a little more personally, and unlike First Blood, sets out to rack up an impressive body count in the process, while freeing the POWs instead. Crenna returns as Trautman and thankfully tones down the hamminess that marred his performance in the first one, while Charles Napier and Martin Kove play the untrustworthy CIA guys looking to betray our hero. Julia Nickson as the contact behind enemy lines is beautiful and sexy, even if she is as much Vietnamese as I am. The film gets a little too over the top when it reveals that the Viet Cong are actually in league with the big bad Russians (led by Steven Berkoff), as Stallone seems to be trying to lump the Commies all together as one big evil faction. There are the usual number of action scenes that don’t quite work (my favorite is the Viet Cong officer with a clear shot on Rambo who nonetheless keeps missing him, giving Johnny enough time to load an explosive-tipped arrow and blast him to smithereens). The end theme song by Frank Stallone, while cheesy, isn’t nearly as bad as the toxic sound of the first film’s end song. Overall, a fun trip down memory lane for anyone who loved the 80s…
8/10